Lunaris
by Hunting Osprey
Summary: Merrick indulges in some reminiscing, and ties up some loose ends. Set during The Soul Of Humanity
1. Default Chapter

I don't own them people with expensive lawyers do. Told from Merricks' point of view this is a filler piece for Soul Of Humanity but it takes a small liberty with the time line, here there is a full day and night between Cole finding the princess and the toy org attacking. Please R&R but be kind this is my first story.  
  
The cell door closes behind me with a solid thud, and I shiver as I remember the lock of my tomb closing with a similar sound three thousand years ago, I drop down on to the bench and rest my head back against the wall.  
  
"Two weeks Merrick, two weeks close confinement for you to contemplate your sins"  
  
Animus voice drifted down the years to me, how alike is my situation now to then, drawn into a brawl with some thugs from the town who were taunting a younger boy I had lost my temper and take them all on, a grim smile shows on my face, my luck that Animus should come round the corner with the watch at that point. He had been furious, his public face was calm and controlled but I knew how to read him, I saw the fire in his eyes and the twitch of his fingers and I knew that this time there would be no leniency. The grin fades as I remember that exact same look on Kite's face yesterday afternoon, the hurt, betrayed fury that boiled in his eyes, but what hurt the most was the casual cold way he had thrown me aside as if he didn't know me. Examining the events of the past hours I see, now that the rage and pain fade in the chill of the cell, that it was a combination of my pain at this rejection, my guilt over having failed to live up to his expectations, my shame at what happened to Shayla and anger at my failure to recognise a friend I had relied on for years that lead me to explode so violently at the biker gang back at the Road House. It is small satisfaction to know that all seven are under guard in hospital, and that the word will spread amongst the gangs that the Road House is no safe place to cause trouble, that should be enough to keep Willy safe when I'm gone. That thought brings me to my feet, am I so sure that I will not live to see many more dawns? The full force of what Shioned used to call my Morbid Wolf Mode seizes me and I begin to pace, the likely odds of my surviving the next battle, one fought without the help of the wild zords, are so small that I don't bother calculating them.  
  
An image of Shioned presents it's self to my minds eye, red hair streaming in the wind like a flame round her head, green eyes snapping with laughter as she holds out her hand to pull me from the mud pool that she and the others and tricked me into, Karil doubled over with laughter, his short black hair covered in white powder for the deception, light blue eyes brimming over with tears. The twins Rhun and Mai slumped together on the ground, the green blanket that had formed part of the ingenious a trap spilling off their laps to the ground, utterly given over to hysterics at my plight. Auryn perched in the tree above my head rocking to and fro in silent laughter, amber eyes bright against the dark foliage, the only part of him visible due to the black cloths he was wearing. I summon up the most predatory glare I can and aim it at him; his convincing imitation of the lore master is what drew me so fast into this trap, but in return he leaps out of the tree with the grace of the eagle and lands at the edge of the pool, folding his arms he pronounces in a solemn voice.  
  
"Warriors, our mission is fulfilled, we have saved the lord protector from a fate worse than death."  
  
At this not even I can restrain a smile and all the others are again helpless with laughter, the memory fades and I find that I have ceased to pace and am sat against the wall opposite the door. The silent stillness of the night invites me to speak, and tonight I am not content to let the silence last.  
  
"And what would you say now Auryn? What would any of you say if you could see me thus?"  
  
But it is not Auryn or Karil that I hear in my mind but Rhun, you are only human Merrick, you are occasionally allowed to fall. Wise advice noble tiger, but it is a bitter pill to swallow. The silence is broken by a loud commotion further down the cellblock, after a few moments the sound of a scuffle cease and the regular heavy thud of boots echo down the corridor, as the key grates in the lock of my cell I come to my feet and stand square to the door, the officer who opens the door looks unsurprised to see me so defiant and jerks his thumb over his shoulder.  
  
"You're out."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Your free to go, we need the cell space, and frankly from the witnesses the sergeant has been hearing we shouldn't have banged you up anyway."  
  
Walking down the steps of the police station ten minutes later I note that the sky mirrors my mood, grey and full of the promise of rain. I turn toward the Road House and begin the walk home just as the rain starts in earnest I pull out the wolf crystal from my pocket to summon my savage cycle but the globe is still frozen, the pain of loss hits me again and I walk on turning the collar of my jacket up in a desperate bid to ward off the rain. My spirit that had been lifted by the memories of my friends sinks and I think again about my likely fate and what will happen to the world when the rangers are gone. The Road House looms against the darkness as I round the last corner, the sight causes a new pang of misery to strike me, what will Willy think when I vanish? Then I realise what I must do before the dawn breaks, I walk round to the back of the building, and silently thanking Karil for teaching me his ill gained house breaking skills, climb up the side of the building and slip in to my room without a sound. Pausing a moment to listen for any sound of activity and hearing only Willy's faint snores I turn on the light and remove my wet cloths and boots laying them over the radiator to dry. Having dressed in my Animerian robes I sit down at my desk and take out pen and paper and begin to write. Dawn has broken by the time I am satisfied with what I have written, taking both documents and my flute I slip silently down stairs into the bar and lay them on the counter, but still the only sound is Willy's faint snoring. Returning to my room I strip off my robes and fold them carefully on the bed, then dressing in the cloths I wear in this century I climb out of the window and down the walls of the building, I have one last duty to perform and with that in mind I set off toward the outskirts of town.  
  
The morning is well begun by the time I reach the memorial to my friends and I am suddenly unsure, dropping to one knee I speak to them as I used to when they lived.  
  
"My friends I don't know what to do, the princess is asleep, Animus took the wild zords away I don't know how we're going to protect the earth without them"  
  
A sound causes me to turn, there standing at the base of the hill is Animus, the anger is gone from his eyes and I see more clearly the friend I once knew, but his words are still cold and unforgiving, not this time of me but of my friends, the people who risked there lives to save me. He offers me what I most long for, forgiveness a place were I can be at peace and no longer fight.  
  
Help me Karil I cry silently help me make one right decision  
  
I lock eyes with Animus trying to see what he truly intends, and in that timeless moment I hear Karil's soft calm voice carried on the sunshine  
  
Love with the courage of the Blazing Lion.  
  
Shioned's strong voice whispers in my ear  
  
Be as stubborn as the Iron Bison  
  
Auryn's musical tenor voice sings on the wind  
  
See with the clear eye of the Soaring Eagle  
  
Mai's light voice sounds over the braking of the sea  
  
Live with the same strong will as the Surging Shark  
  
And her brothers voice echoes through my soul  
  
Be as true to yourself as the Noble Tiger  
  
Out of hope that I will hear something to help me decide I turn on my lunar caller and hear Cole declaring that the ranger would use there souls to defend the earth, am I so different from them, I gave up my life, honour and soul to protect Animaria once and I will not let them make the same sacrifice. Animus tells me it is time to go, showing me in a nimbus of light were he will take me, and it is truly paradise, all my friends are there waving to me urging me to come to them and find peace. Cole's words echo again in my head and I make my choice.  
  
"Animus three thousand years ago you were my dear friend and I will never forget that, but we live in the present and these people have become my friends. They don't have you or the wild zords to protect them; all they have are their friends, that's why I can't leave them." I draw in a deep breath and prepare to sever our friendship forever "I choose to stay."  
  
With no further words I leave him, running along the shore to my friends and one last battle. 


	2. A Roadhouse Special

I still don't own them, and the lawyers are probable more expensive now than they were when I first posted this!

This is Willies view of the events in Soul Of Humanity and immediately after, and (hopefully) goes a little way to explaining his lack of surprise / confusion at Merrick's remarks in The End Of The Power Rangers part 1.

Titaniumtears, this one's for you.

The morning sun is far too bright as I crack open a reluctant eye, the battle scared clock that presents itself for inspection before my face reads 10.30. A sharp pain runs down my side reminding me why I shouldn't sleep in the armchair, forcing open my other eye with an act of will I gaze at my reflection in the mirror above the desk, the livid bruise on my jaw is an instant reminder of last night's events. As I push my self up, the creaking of the chair covers the sound of my joints and a hiss of pain as stiffened muscles proclaim their presence. I hobble across the room into the shower; ten minutes later I reluctantly step out of the shower, and examine my other bruises. Merrick had been withdrawn all day with fits of staring into space, he'd even turned down my offer to play a pool game, but I knew him well enough to know that asking questions wasn't going to get me anywhere so I let it lie. The evening rolled round with all the usual folks turning up, Merrick was like a machine on autopilot, and then this biker gang had come barging in. Pulling on my shirt I smile at the memory, they had come striding in full of bluster looking just like the cowboys in a western on their way to the shootout; all that was lacking was the cheesy music. Smiles and suppressed laughter had rippled round the bar before folks went back to studying their card and pool games, but the smiles soon faded when the gang started throwing themselves around, breaking up the pool games interrupting the poker. Now normally Merrick had thrown them out long before serious trouble started, but he'd just sat at the far end of the bar, staring down as if his whole life were carved into the wood oblivious to anything. The gang leader grabbed hold of my shirt and began demanding free alcohol. I said no; when it comes down to it I do have a business to run here.  Rubbing my jaw I walk down the corridor to Merrick's room, time to see if he's been let loose on an unsuspecting world.  The guys last night had certainly been unsuspecting; the leader let go of my shirt and threw a punch. I went down under the force of the blow with stars bursting in front of my eyes but the sound must have brought Merrick out of his funk, 'cause by the time I'd shaken my head clear full scale war raged around me. 

 Living in Turtle Cove you get used to all sorts of weird stuff, giant robot animals, the odd mad household appliance and things which would have people in hysterics if they weren't flattening the city, but what I saw was a no contest prize winner for the worlds' worst nightmare. The polite well-mannered young man I knew as Merrick had gone, and a wild beast wore his form. His green grey eyes burned with fury, his lips were drawn into a snarl that bared his teeth, brows drawn down over his eyes, hair flying out round his head like a mane.  He struck at the people around him indiscriminately, the thud of bodies hitting the floor mixed with the crunch of destroyed furniture and the sickening crack of braking bone, with out really thinking I waded into the fray in a desperate attempt to stop things. A few moments later I'd found myself flat on my back, time froze as I stared into the ruin of Merrick's face.  I saw almost two images of him, the flushed furious human face buried behind one that would have given power rangers nightmares. His hair had grown to below his shoulder and turned silver, and his face, harder almost as if made of a black metal instead of human flesh, seemed to extend outward into a muzzle, but what chilled me most were those eyes, they were yellow, cold, hard, deadly, the eyes of the hunting wolf and in between showing faintly there was a yellow circle which glowed darkly, time snapped back and survival instincts kicked in as I curled up in a ball, hands in front of my face. Swallowing at the memory I drag myself back to today and find myself staring at his door, squaring my shoulders I knock.

"Merrick, are you there?"

Silence is all my answer, so carefully I open the door. The room is as neat and Spartan as always, seeing no sign that anyone's been in the room I close the door and turn to the stairs down to the bar reviewing the rest of the night's events. Lying there curled up I waited for a blow that never came, lowering my hands I saw that all the fury and colour had drained from his face a he stared down at me, the nightmare mask I had seen before was gone and disbelieving horror was written over his human face. The moment was shattered by the sound of police sirens, the door burst open and five or six uniformed cops stormed through. Two of them grabbed Merrick dropping him to the ground and snapping cuffs on his hands in one movement, I half expected the berserk fury to grip him again but he just lay there unmoving, the sergeant helped me to my feet as they hustled Merrick out the door, the paramedics who had followed the police in began to check over the still forms on the floor. Having got myself checked over by one of the medics and told my tale to the police I closed up the bar, everyone else had long gone. The adrenalin that had carried me through finally gave out and I dragged my self upstairs collapsing into the chair I woke up in this morning.

The sunlight streams into the bar in bright shafts through the cracks in the shutters, catching the dust as it swirls lazily in the air, it's late enough that the sun has warmed the bar giving the place a calm and peaceful feel. My contemplation of the calm is broken by my stomach reminding me about breakfast, walking toward the kitchen I come to the smashed tables and with the experience gained from too many bar fights I asses the cost of repairing the damage. Picking my way through the debris my eye is caught by two envelopes under a large bamboo tube that have inexplicably appeared on the bar, reaching the bar the tube shows itself as a flute, giving the place a quick once over I lift it to my mouth and manage, after a couple of attempts, to make a very unmusical noise. A smile creeps onto my face and I must confess to being glad that I'm alone right now, Merrick has very definite opinions on music and I can see the pained wince that would have graced his face at my experiment, gently placing the flute back on the bar I pickup the envelopes, my name is written neatly in an elegant curving script across the middle of the top one, I know it instantly, Merricks' writing. Turning to walk down the bar to the kitchen and the business of making myself a roadhouse special I tear the envelope open.

_Willy,_

_It is almost certain that by the time you read these lines I will have walked through the dark valley and into the bright dawn beyond, but I could not leave with out some explanation._

The world fades out around me; I feel my legs go leaden underneath me as I stagger to the nearest chair, my fingers have lost their strength and I hear a flat sound as the second envelope hits the floor, the warmth of the bar has gone and a bone splitting chill grips me.  

_After my unpardonable breach of discipline last night this may be hard to accept but I have been from the day of my arrival here the Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger.  _

No, it is not so hard to accept, it should have been obvious. The constant disappearing and reappearing with bruises and some times with worse always coincided with attacks on the city.  Unwilling to read further but somehow unable to stop the rest of the letter passes under my eyes, the whole wonderful and terrible story that he has hidden from all the world is set down in stark black and white and held in my trembling fingers. 

Time passes, and I am drawn back to the world by a persistent, soft, melancholy sound, to find the tears I don't know I had spilt have dried into salt tracks down my face, and caused the ink of the letter to run into streaks. Drawing in an unsteady breath I turn my head to the source of the sound, and find the second heart stopping shock of the day leaning against the bar as wrapped up in its thoughts as I was in mine. Desperately needing confirmation of what I'm seeing I gather enough wits and control to say in a rough and unsteady voice.

"Merrick, you live?"  

The apparition instantly stops playing the flute and snaps its head round to lock eyes with me, the green grey eyes study me intently almost as if seeing me for the first time, and in that timeless moment we both see each other anew. I see a tired warrior whose strength and faith have been renewed, a man who has struggled for so long that he lost sight of the goal suddenly show the road home. What he see in me I don't know but he must see that I doubt my eyes because he walks across the room and holds out a hand to me.

"Yes" a sharp intake of breath betrays some injury and a small smile creeps over his face "barely."

Forcing my legs to work I stand and take the outstretched hand in mine, the warmth of living flesh and the strength of his grip banish all my doubts, this close I can see that under the dirt and bruises he is pale and tired. Thinking back to the nights I've spent in police cells, and there have been a few, I realize that he's probably not eaten since yesterday afternoon.

"Breakfast?"

"Please"

Turning away towards the kitchen I notice the second envelope that had fallen from my fingers earlier, picking it up I hand it to him.

"Keep it for when you really need it"

He nods at me and then his eyes flicker to the crumpled stained pages in my hand, then back up to me the unvoiced question clear.

"It'll make a great fire starter, and who's going to believe me any way?"

The grin deepens into an outright smile.

"Thank you" a pause as he studies the bruise on my face and then "I think I'd better teach you how to block a punch."

Laughing both with relief and amusement at what has passed I put the pan on the gas and start cooking. A few minutes later the kitchen is filled with the sound and smell of cooking food, the sizzling of the pan is a comforting sound; it speaks of the good things in life and right now bacon and eggs has never smelt so good.


End file.
